MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker continued to stand his ground Monday night, challenging the 14 Democratic senators who have fled to Illinois to return to “where they belong” so Republicans can move forward with his budget-cutting plan.

Over the chants of “Resign! Resign!” heard through the marble walls of the governor’s conference room from protesters in the rotunda mere yards away, Walker calmly delivered a defense of his controversial plan to eliminate the collective bargaining rights of many of Wisconsin’s public workers. He reiterated the need to balance the budget, weighed down by a deficit of more than $3 billion.

And he accused his state’s Democrats of shirking their responsibilities and being opaque in the process.

“For those 14 Senate Democrats, you had your time, now it’s time to come home,” Walker said at a news conference, adding that he knew his political foes would be watching. “Clearly I don’t think you could find a single person, at least in the state of Wisconsin, who couldn’t tell you they’re aware of what’s going on with this bill, or what the debate’s all about. The time is up. It’s time to come back to our state’s capitol - that’s where they belong.”

In a sign of the bitter stalemate that has rocked Madison for more than a week now, Democrats could not disagree more.

The senators who have been in exile in Illinois since last Thursday believe they have conceded enough - holding firm to a letter they sent Walker on Friday conceding labor pension cuts and higher pay-ins to health care and retirement plans. They charge this isn’t about the budget, despite Walker’s repeated refrain that it is, and that his only objective is to bust the state’s unions and play into the hands of national Republicans.

“We don’t work for the governor. We work for the people in our districts, and they’ve spoken very loudly that they want us to stay away,” Democratic Sen. Chris Larson told POLITICO in a phone interview moments after Walker finished his address.

“He sounded pretty angry, and I think that he was grasping at straws with some of the things he was trying to say. This is worker rights that we’re talking about - he’s trying to balance the budget on the backs of workers. He can pretend to stand with the people of Wisconsin, but they want to keep their rights. He’s not taking into consideration that the unions are willing to give their fair share and he’s fighting the battles of last week.”

Asked what Democrats would do if Walker continues not to budge from his stance that eliminating collective bargaining rights is central to Wisconsin’s economic prosperity, Larson emphasized he and his colleagues will stand pat — despite the fact he says he left the state with only a toothbrush and a spare T-shirt — and that it’s the governor’s job to lead the two parties to the negotiating table. Democrats are ready to work toward balancing Wisconsin’s budget, Larson said, but Walker has to give on an issue that has now drawn the national attention, media and money.

“He’s not just going to have his way. We’re not just rubber stamps,” Larson said. “The ball is in Walker’s court. It is clear that this bill is untenable to the public.”

In a 20-minute news conference with reporters, Walker defended his position on collective bargaining, citing a potential savings of $68 million for Wisconsin’s schools if teachers were not bound to buy a certain kind of health insurance through WEA Trusts as they do now. He cited this as one of “many” reasons to get rid of collective bargaining, though did not mention any others. He also defended his decision to exempt firefighters and police officers - a traditionally conservative base, as opposed to teachers - as a matter of “public safety.”

When asked if he was surprised by the backlash caused by his budget plan, Walker responded coolly, even over the constant hum of protesters banging drums and chanting, “The nation’s watching” that didn’t seem to faze the Republican or give him pause.

“Any time you’re going to make a bold move, challenging the status quo, you’re going to face passion,” Walker explained, but then he pointed to what he believed was an influx of out-of-staters who have stormed Wisconsin’s Capitol. “If given the choice to stand with them or to stand with the good, hard-working taxpayers all across Wisconsin, many of whom are paying much more for health care and benefits than the modest amount we’re asking for in this proposal, I’m going to stand with the hard-working taxpayers of Wisconsin.”

Monday marked the eighth day of protests in Madison, and if anything is clear - and much isn’t - it’s that neither freezing temperatures, rain nor ice will keep thousands of people from coming here.

On Tuesday, Republicans plan to move on with business as usual in hopes that they can put the pressure on their exiled Democratic colleagues to return. As long as the self-described “Wisconsin 14” remain in Illinois, they cannot be dragged back to the Capitol by the sergeant-at-arms.

There had been some fear from Democrats earlier Monday that Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald might try to separate the collective bargaining provisions from the overall budget bill and hold a vote on the legislation’s most controversial piece, because it technically does not involve the budget and would not require a quorum of 20 members. But, for now, Fitzgerald does not intend to do so, according to local reports. A spokesman for Fitzgerald did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fitzgerald said Republicans may try to force the Democrats to return this week by calling a bill to the floor that would require voters to show identification at polling places - a bill Democrats oppose because they worry it will disenfranchise some voters. And Walker tried to add fear in his press conference Monday night by saying that if the legislature does not act on his budget soon, he will have to lay off 1,500 state workers because of the savings that will be lost.

“You have shut down the people’s government, and that’s not acceptable,” Fitzgerald told reporters Monday of the Democrats.

Meanwhile, the protests continued unabated throughout the day. The noise from inside the Capitol in the morning was so loud that protesters could be heard through its marble walls and into the surrounding streets. There were drums, trumpets, guitars, bells and an even an accordion to accompany the thousands of voices and hundreds of signs flooding the rotunda. And by the afternoon, protesters had circled the entire exterior of Madison’s most iconic building, holding hands and chanting, “This is what democracy looks like.”

The protests have drawn national attention from the left and the right. The liberal group ActBlue has now raised more than $300,000 from nearly 12,000 donors for the Wisconsin Senate Democrats since they fled the state, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent a fundraising appeal to his supporters as well.

And it’s not lost on either side that the nation’s most visible policy stalemate is unfolding in one of its most historically progressive states, particularly when it comes to matters of labor.

Wisconsin was the first state to provide its employees with collective bargaining rights, which Walker now seeks to eliminate. It was also the first state to institute workmen’s compensation. And the “Wisconsin Idea” was the primordial soup for Social Security, which was authored by two former faculty members at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

So as posters reading “WE ARE MAD .. ISON” and “R.I.P. Wisconsin Idea 1904-2011”” adorn the walls of the dome, and the people of Madison take up their musical instruments in a throwback to their 1960s civil rights era roots, the scene seems as deep-rooted in history as it does unending.

Teachers, who believe they will be disproportionately affected by Walker’s budget plan, have had a strong presence in the Capitol throughout the week. The Chicago Teachers Union bused members to Madison on Monday to support their Wisconsin counterparts, who have been taking sick days since the demonstrations began to contest Walker’s plan.

Monday night, Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell released a statement hitting at Walker’s speech.

“Taking away the rights of workers does nothing to balance our budget. Wisconsin’s teachers, support professionals, nurses and other public employees have agreed to the governor’s pension and health care requests,” Bell said.

“This piece of the governor’s budget puzzle is dangerous and extreme. Silencing the voices of educators on the eve of devastating cuts will leave our schools and students without a voice - and the severe consequences will last long into the future. … We can’t bring Wisconsin together if the governor is unwilling to talk across party lines. If the governor says ‘no’ to discussions, then it’s time for legislators to step up and show leadership to represent the voices of Wisconsin.”

Democrats have been saying they’re willing to compromise, but insist that collective bargaining has nothing to do with paying down Wisconsin’s debt, and Republicans, short of a brief report in an Associated Press story early Monday of one senator floating a compromise idea immediately shot down by Walker and leadership, insist they will stand behind Walker’s budget plan.

But these are the same talking points that have been coming from both sides for more than a week now.

“We just want the governor to get to the table - to take the collective bargaining provisions out,” said Sen. Dave Hansen, assistant Democratic leader. “We agreed to pay the pension that he asked, the increased costs for health care. This is a bigger game plan, and that is to destroy the middle class, destroy collective bargaining. He could end this right now.”

Democrats in Madison point to their Republican colleagues in the Legislature as perhaps their final hope in defeating Walker’s measure. “Many of them supported collective bargaining throughout their entire career,” Hansen said.

So even as Madison seems totally frozen - with 25-degree weather and sheets of ice - Republicans will get back to work Tuesday.

Fitzgerald will open session like usual on Tuesday despite the absence of the runaway Democrats, and the 19-member GOP caucus will vote on nonbudgetary measures, such as a resolution commending the Green Bay Packers on winning the Super Bowl.